Swimming, Breathing

When swimming, keep breathing! Breathing seems to be the number one challenge for people new to swimming. Breathing is not something we think about until we get in the water. In the water, we now have to think about when to breathe, fitting it into the rhythm of the stroke. Timing and posture is important, which we don’t think about when standing, vertical, on land, vs horizontal in water. It seems obvious that the air is “up there” while we are “down here” in the water and therefore We need to “go up there” in order to get air. But it’s not the case. Stay low and role to air by keeping the top of the head low, the swim cap- the part of the head that doesn’t breath, in order to get the mouth out, which is the part that does breathe. Think of keeping one ear in the water and one ear out of the water. Second little tip, is look to the side, not behind you, nor forward, which will continue to keep your head in line with your spine. This also helps you become more aware of your body and what it is doing, and how you can make subtle changes to your movements. It gets easier, better.

Give it a try, more than once, both sides, and let me know how it goes.